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“I was in the back getting tools out of the van when I heard the ignition start, my first thought was it’s probably Peugeot electronics in the sun and then I felt it reversing,” said Mr Jones.

“I held on to the back door and they dragged me up the lane, I thought they would have to stop before turning onto the main road and I’d use that time to get back in the van but they didn’t stop they just pulled out and threw me off.

Clive Jones with his hire van after thieves stole his works van.

“They put their foot down and I could see tools falling out along the road as they went,” he added.

“Normally there is about £2,550 worth of gear in there, luckily it was relatively empty.”

Mr Jones and his friend hopped into a car and went after the thieves but they lost them. They then stopped to talk to ramblers along the road, who complained the van had nearly ran them over.

That evening, having put an appeal out on Facebook for the location of the vehicle, someone said they saw it in Twerton, however police could not find it.

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But that was not the last Mr Jones would see of his lost van because on Monday, May 21 - after picking up a hire van to use - he spotted it being driven around south Bristol.

He followed it and contacted the phone to the police, who said they had units in the area.

Mr Jones followed them until Withywood where he lost them again, not wanting to carry on speeding dangerously through roads.

But, a police unit deployed to the incident didn’t catch the thieves.

“To be honest with you the whole thing has been been really frustrating. To be on the phone to police who say they have units in the area then not to get them here in time. What more do they want? I even found my own van for them,” said Mr Jones.

Mr Jones has found the process of getting his van back "extremely frustrating", he said.

“I’ve just gotten over the fact they could’ve killed me when they stole my van, what is really getting to me is the real frustration of knowing twice where the van was and not being able to get it back.

“We have a great PCSO who has been chasing the situation up but it feels like the police are not interested,” he added.

More than losing the van, is the items inside the vehicle such as his diary and contacts book which are irreplaceable. The van also contained his house keys and cards, and the keys of his clients.

“We’ve had to have our locks changed and so has the man who we are doing work for, it has been a real pain,” he said.